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venerdì 9 dicembre 2016

We are writing on behalf of the Agency Habeshia
which, as you may know, deals with the tragedy of the refugees and migrants and
that, therefore, would like to see You, Sir, as an ally in the difficult path
intended to ensure freedom, dignity and security to millions of people forced
to abandon their land.

Let's start with one of the last, dramatic pleas for
help. Certainly You know the UN report that, just a few weeks ago, reported
over 400,000 children as victims of famine in Nigeria, because of the situation
caused by Boko Haram militia
fundamentalists. Indeed, according to UNICEF, 75,000 are likely to die of
starvation in the coming months, at a rate of 200 a day. Not to mention the
killings, kidnappings, looting investing entire villages, bombings, massacres
and the northern part the country fallen for years under the direct control of
ISIS faithful fundamentalists. So figures don’t end up if we think back to Your
statement, disseminated by all European media, affirming that there is no need
to change the criteria of the nationalities of refugees to be accepted and
"relocated" in any of the EU states.

"If we compare Italy and Greece, we see that
up to 80 percent of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea are refugees, while the
majority of those arriving in Italy from the central Mediterranean, in this
case 80 percent, are irregular. We do not intend to change the criteria ...
": this is the declaration which Press attributed to You, in response to
those who asked if You were thinking of few changes for Nationalities to
redistribute, because in Italy there are no "Syrians and Eritreans
enough". Yet this idea of ​​nationality as "a
priori requirement" seems nothing short of absurd. At least
because - you know it well - according to International law and the Geneva
Convention, asylum applications should be examined case by case, listening to
the stories of each individual and not, however, carried out according to
criteria of "national belonging", as unfortunately we are now doing,
accommodating only those fleeing from the war-torn Syria or from Eritrea enslaved by the dictatorship of an
authoritarian regime.

If you really want, however, we might speak well of
nations and countries. We spoke of Nigeria, where thousands of people whose
alternative is to die under the blows of Boko Haram or hunger. Let's go
further: for example, let us think of South Sudan. Again, You, Sir, are too
well informed, for the role you play, not to know that a civil war has been
ravaging the country for three years, causing at least 10,000 dead and 3
million refugees, threatening to turn into a real genocide, with the warring
factions ready to kill and to massacre by ethnicity, following the perverse logic
of ethnic cleansing. A UN report
published in early December denounces it, in addition to the now
"usual" corollary of killings, abductions, villages looted and set on
fire, raids even in places like refugee camps under UNHCR's insignia. Not to
mention the "famine": apart from climate change and drought, at least
two years have passed with no sowings because of war and, therefore, there are
no crops to satisfy at least part of the nutritional requirements of the
population.

So, what is about? Those fleeing from this hell
should not be accepted in Europe as
refugees?

But the list of situations like this is very long.
Somalia has imploded, and in the throes of a civil war, with the militants of
Al Shabaab, affiliated to Al Qaeda, who make an average score of more than 900
attacks a year, with hundreds, thousands of deaths and, again, a drought and a
famine investing millions of men and women. Or Mali where, contrary to what they keep
saying in Europe, the war, exploded with the revolt of 2012 in the northern regions,
the so-called Azawad, never ended, as evidenced by the long chain of daily
attacks, bombings, ambushes, killings. The ordeal of Darfur, the war-torn region of Sudan that has been knowing
no peace for years and feeding, in fact, a steady stream of refugees who see in
flight the only way of salvation from all kinds of violence perpetrated by the
police in the Al Bashir regime, the famous "devils on horseback".
Yemen, overwhelmed by the war between
Shiites and Sunnis: here thousands of deaths and millions of refugees or
displaced and desperate people are driven from their homes and their cities
even by bombs and weapons that Europe (and Italy in particular) is selling,
together with Member States, to one of the warring factions. Or, again, Gambia,
subjugated for years by a brutal dictatorship, which we hope has been truly
banished from the elections a few days ago. Or the Central African Republic. Or
the same Niger, chosen from Europe to make it a big "sorting hub” for
refugees, but that seems far from certain, due to the increasing escalation of
terrorist attacks by Boko Haram from Nigeria and AQIM jihadis and Isis from
Mali, so that in June, the UN coordinator, Fode Ndiaye, has appealed to the
international community speaking bluntly of "humanitarian crisis" ...

One could go on - You know, Sir - for who knows how
long. Let’s take Afghanistan, for example, where the European Union wants to
"repatriate" 80,000 refugees, as if the country had become suddenly
"peaceful and safe". Unfortunately, media dont’ speak a lot of
these tragedies and the general public knows just a little. But the real tragedy is denounced by the
refugees who continue to knock on the doors of Europe, fleeing from Nigeria,
South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Gambia and so on: just scroll down the list of nationality of many young people landed in
Italy. However, according to Your statements, Sir, it seems that these
situations would not be

"sufficient" to open the doors of
solidarity in Europe. Not enough to guarantee - as well as rules of International
law - help and hospitality.

Why this choice? Habeshia can not explain it. Unless
the reason is that these states from which people are forced to flee are
largely the very same ones with which European Union has signed a number of
treaties to stop the refugees before their arrival on the shores of the
Mediterranean. We refer to the processes of Rabat and Khartoum, the agreements
signed in Malta in November 2015, the pact with Turkey You exalted and that, in
fact, works great as a "barrier" placed across the Aegean: it is a
shame that it lets refugees put their neck on the line. Yeah, because
agreements and pacts of this kind serve to Europe to outsource its borders even
beyond the Sahara or in any case far from the southern Mediterranean, delegating
to others the dirty work to supervise these frontiers, and make them
uncrossable. And Your statement, Sir, is likely to give now a voice to those
who want to raise more barriers of selfishness and indifference and always
appeals to a closed-door policy and refusal.

We do
hope, as Habeshia, to be proven wrong. But - less than denials, in fact – that
is just what emerges from Your words quoted by the media. Words that seem to
forget that you leave the house only when the house does not let you any
more stay1 ...

Sincerely,

Fr.
Mussie Zerai, president of Habeshia

Emilio
Drudi, Agency spokesman.

Rome, December 8, 2016

NOTE

1 -
Giuseppe Cederna, Home. The subsequent verses say: No one leaves the
house unless the house does not cast thee fire under your feet, warm blood in
the stomach, something that you never thought of doing, as long as the scythe
has marked you the threats neck ...

giovedì 8 dicembre 2016

Statement by H.E. Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United
Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva
UNCTAD Trade and Development Board
Geneva, 5 December 2016

Mr. President,

At the outset, the Holy See would like to thank you for your ability to bring all the
Member States to a substantive result in achieving the “Nairobi Maafikiano” during the
Ministerial Conference. Allow me also to express our appreciation to the Director General
and the Secretariat for the preparation of the Trade and Development Board and for the
outcome achieved by UNCTAD this year through the approval of its mandate for the next
quadrennium. In Nairobi, last July, States were able to discuss and address the
contemporary needs and priorities of developing countries in the current volatile and
unbalanced global environment.
As is also stated in the Nairobi Maafikiano “UNCTAD was established to promote an
inclusive global economy, through informing national and international policies, while
giving priority consideration for the needs and interests of developing countries. This
would lead to better standards of life and create a better and more effective system of
international economic cooperation whereby the division of the world into areas of poverty
and plenty may be banished and prosperity achieved by all”.

Throughout history, trade has helped to transform economies, reshaping the division of
wealth and power. More recently, advances in technology and in communications allows
developing countries to enter international markets through specialization in specific tasks
and intermediate products. In addition, the international community has taken steps to
make the world trading system more equitable and has expanded World Trade
Organization (WTO) membership to include most of the developing countries.
The world economy in 2016 is still in a fragile state, with growth likely to dip below the
2.5 per cent registered in 2014 and 2015. The mediocre performance of developed countries
since the 2008–2009 economic and financial crisis is predicted to endure, with the added
threat that the loss of momentum in developing countries over the past few years will be greater than was previously anticipated. The trade slowdown of the last years has been
widespread across most of the developing and developed countries. Average trade growth
rates for all regions are now very low and just a fraction of what they were in the pre-crisis
period. The reasons for the ongoing trade slowdown are to be found in a variety of factors.
While some of these factors are likely to have only temporary effects and maybe cyclical in
nature, others are likely to be more long lasting and related to structural shifts.
The economic system is based on mechanisms that are not, however, automatic. They
work if initiated with the right intention and appropriate levels of spiritual, physical, human
and social “capital”. The great global contradiction in history has been the rapid growth of
affluence in some areas of the world while others have remained cut off and at the margins.
Global markets can be good servants but bad masters; and ceding more authority to those
markets is a matter of political choice, not economic or technological destiny. The economic
slowdown in developed economies rules out any simple explanation that those choices are
the product of a rigged North-South game. Indeed, the combination of slower growth and
rising inequality in these economies has left its own trail of depressed communities. The big
political challenge facing the international community is therefore to move beyond a
mapping of the winners and losers, of moving from globalization to a more constructive
narrative of building shared prosperity.
As recalled in the political Declaration Nairobi Azimio: “We still face an unequal global
distribution of resources and opportunities, but today we are better placed to take concrete
actions that can address the inequalities between and among countries and peoples. In 2015,
world leaders agreed on how to better position the international community to address
some of the most pressing global challenges. These agreements and outcomes collectively
offer a blueprint for how the global economy, society and environment should look in 2030”.
The policies of multilateral institutions, the set of 17 goals of the Post-2015 Agenda
cannot merely attempt to achieve a kind of “efficient equilibrium” from the spontaneous
outcomes of self-interested actions. We must strive instead for the common good, which
requires, on the one hand, both effort and self-restraint of every member of a group, society,
or community of nations, and, on the other hand, cooperation among them. The ground for
the common good must be prepared step by step and day by day, by continuous and
conscientious efforts in two directions—one structural and the other virtuous: the goodness
of institutional structures help promote the common good, while the virtuous behavior of
persons helps transform institutions.
This is what is required to address the fundamental questions that are related to the
financial crisis and the quest for solutions to it. Thus, when we talk about the common good,
we need to recognize that “the degree of its realization in any given historical moment depends on the readiness of members of the group to act according to their profound
vocation of brotherly humanity.” As usual, it is very difficult to make predictions, but if we want to give the 2030 Agenda
an opportunity to succeed we should continue to implement the Addis Ababa Action
Agenda which calls us to redirect the national and international investment regime towards
sustainable development. It is time to embrace a transformative shift to translate
declarations into actions, and commitments into achievements. It is no longer enough for us
to restate our position after having negotiated a balanced Ministerial mandate, our common
goal should be to make it work in order to transform our decision into action and achieve
this ambitious goal formulated in the 2030 Agenda.
Thank you,

Statement by H.E. Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations
and Other International Organizations in Geneva
International Organization for Migration (IOM) – 107th Session of the Council
Geneva,

6 December 2016

Mr. Chairperson,

The Delegation of the Holy See wishes to congratulate the Director General and the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) on its 65th anniversary and commend its
dedication in promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all.
This year will be remembered as particularly significant for the IOM and for global migration:
the IOM formally entered a closer legal and working relationship with the United Nations,
becoming a Related Organization. In addition, last September the world came together in a UN
General Assembly Summit of Heads of State on refugees and migrants – indeed, for the first
time in 71 years, the focus was also on migration – and adopted the New York Declaration for
Refugees and Migrants.
At the same time, regrettably, 2016 will also go down in history as the year when large numbers
of migrants, well over six-thousand, lost their lives in search of a better life. Pope Francis has
repeatedly expressed concern for migrants through his words and actions, and he has assumed
direct responsibility for migrant issues within the new Curial Dicastery for integral human
development.
Mr. Chairperson,
The number of people on the move in search of better opportunities, often fleeing from
conflicts, famine, religious persecution, climate change and natural disasters, continues to
increase incessantly.
The motives for migration movements should cause us to question seriously our achievements
as a human family and urge us to create what Pope Francis defined as a new "social economy"
based on inclusion and justice, serving the many, not the few, and ultimately making migration
an opportunity and a choice rather than a compelling decision. What is even worse, migrants are often treated as numbers and commodities, and are too often
perceived as a threat instead of a resource for the host society. It is important to remember that
behind the statistics are persons who are no different from our own family members and friends,
“each of them with a name, a face, a story and aspirations, as well as an inalienable right to live
in peace” (Pope Francis, Address to members of the European Confederation and World Union
of Jesuit Alumni and Alumnae, Rome, 17 September 2016).
The transfer of resources, skills, knowledge, and ideas through migration is substantial but it is
often overlooked. Moreover, the local integration in the host countries remains a critical
challenge: many migrants continue to live and to work in precarious conditions and they face
stereotyping and discrimination; they are often marginalized and without access to social
services. When migrants are not integrated into society they become isolated, creating a
dangerous culture of mutual distrust and suspicion. We need to replace such a culture with a
culture of dialogue and encounter.
Migration, integration and development are interdependent and mutually reinforcing
phenomena. The great contribution of migrants becomes real and effective when they are
recognized as partners in economic development, when their human rights are respected and,
at the same time, when they appreciate the basic values of the host society, aware that a better
and just future may be built only together.
Mr. Chairperson,
The New York Declaration is a positive change of attitude and an attempt to build bridges
among societies. It expresses the political will to save lives, protecting the dignity, human rights
and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migratory status, at all times
(Para. 41, New York Declaration). It also acknowledges that migration is not a problem to be
solved but a human reality that should be managed through a multilateral approach.
The Holy See wishes to express its support for the IOM’s endeavors in this matter and wants
to assure its readiness to collaborate actively in the negotiations leading to the Global Compact,
bringing to bear its own experience in the field of international migration. Such a process should
channel all efforts towards the achievement of significant and far-sighted results and it should
be guided by a spirit of solidarity, by the centrality of the human person and his or her dignity
and by a desire to promote integral human development.
In this regard, my Delegation fully supports and thanks the Director General, Ambassador
William Lacy Swing, in his offer to serve as Secretary General of the inter-governmental
conference in 2018 and for his proposal to dedicate the International Dialogue on Migration to
the discussions on the Global Compact. At the same time, it could be useful to reconstitute the
IOM-UN Working Group as a Working Group on the Global Compact on Migration in order to
channel all efforts towards the achievement of significant and far-sighted results. Mr. Chairperson,
Of particular concern for the Holy See is the vulnerability of child migrants, to whom Pope
Francis dedicated his Message for the 2017 World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “...Children
constitute the most vulnerable group, because as they face the life ahead of them, they are
invisible and voiceless: their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them
from the world’s eyes; the absence of adults to accompany them prevents their voices from
being raised and heard.” (Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the World Day of Migrants
and Refugees 2017).
The number of children on the move is growing exponentially. All over the world, conflict
affects 246 million children and many of them face forced displacement, rights violations, lack
of access to basic services and health and nutrition challenges.1 They often fall victim to
perverse scourges such as child trafficking, exploitation, and abuse. No matter where they are
or where they come from, all children have individual needs and rights even when they cross
borders. Minors, given their vulnerability, have different needs than adults and policies must
prioritize their best interests at all stages.
Mr. Chairperson,
Children are the first among those who pay the heavy price of migration, almost always caused
by violence, poverty, environmental imbalances, and disasters, as well as the negative aspects
of globalization. Let us be brave and resolute in our commitment to tackle the causes which
trigger forced migration in the countries of origin.
Thank you,

giovedì 13 ottobre 2016

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me” (Mk 9:37; cf. Mt 18:5; Lk 9:48; Jn 13:20). With these words, the Evangelists remind the Christian community of Jesus’ teaching, which both inspires and challenges. This phrase traces the sure path which leads to God; it begins with the smallest and, through the grace of our Saviour, it grows into the practice of welcoming others. To be welcoming is a necessary condition for making this journey a concrete reality: God made himself one of us. In Jesus God became a child, and the openness of faith to God, which nourishes hope, is expressed in loving proximity to the smallest and the weakest. Charity, faith and hope are all actively present in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, as we have rediscovered during the recent Extraordinary Jubilee.

But the Evangelists reflect also on the responsibility of the one who works against mercy: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin: it is better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Mt 18:6; cf. Mk 9:42; Lk 17:2). How can we ignore this severe warning when we see the exploitation carried out by unscrupulous people? Such exploitation harms young girls and boys who are led into prostitution or into the mire of pornography; who are enslaved as child labourers or soldiers; who are caught up in drug trafficking and other forms of criminality; who are forced to flee from conflict and persecution, risking isolation and abandonment.

For this reason, on the occasion of the annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees, I feel compelled to draw attention to the reality of child migrants, especially the ones who are alone. In doing so I ask everyone to take care of the young, who in a threefold way are defenceless: they are children, they are foreigners, and they have no means to protect themselves. I ask everyone to help those who, for various reasons, are forced to live far from their homeland and are separated from their families.

Migration today is not a phenomenon limited to some areas of the planet. It affects all continents and is growing into a tragic situation of global proportions. Not only does this concern those looking for dignified work or better living conditions, but also men and women, the elderly and children, who are forced to leave their homes in the hope of finding safety, peace and security. Children are the first among those to pay the heavy toll of emigration, almost always caused by violence, poverty, environmental conditions, as well as the negative aspects of globalization. The unrestrained competition for quick and easy profit brings with it the cultivation of perverse scourges such as child trafficking, the exploitation and abuse of minors and, generally, the depriving of rights intrinsic to childhood as sanctioned by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Childhood, given its fragile nature, has unique and inalienable needs. Above all else, there is the right to a healthy and secure family environment, where a child can grow under the guidance and example of a father and a mother; then there is the right and duty to receive adequate education, primarily in the family and also in the school, where children can grow as persons and agents of their own future and the future of their respective countries. Indeed, in many areas of the world, reading, writing and the most basic arithmetic is still the privilege of only a few. All children, furthermore, have the right to recreation; in a word, they have the right to be children.

And yet among migrants, children constitute the most vulnerable group, because as they face the life ahead of them, they are invisible and voiceless: their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them from the world’s eyes; the absence of adults to accompany them prevents their voices from being raised and heard. In this way, migrant children easily end up at the lowest levels of human degradation, where illegality and violence destroy the future of too many innocents, while the network of child abuse is difficult to break up.

How should we respond to this reality?

Firstly, we need to become aware that the phenomenon of migration is not unrelated to salvation history, but rather a part of that history. One of God’s commandments is connected to it: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Ex 22:21); “Love the sojourner therefore; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Deut10:19). This phenomenon constitutes a sign of the times, a sign which speaks of the providential work of God in history and in the human community, with a view to universal communion. While appreciating the issues, and often the suffering and tragedy of migration, as too the difficulties connected with the demands of offering a dignified welcome to these persons, the Church nevertheless encourages us to recognize God’s plan. She invites us to do this precisely amidst this phenomenon, with the certainty that no one is a stranger in the Christian community, which embraces “every nation, tribe, people and tongue” (Rev7:9). Each person is precious; persons are more important than things, and the worth of an institution is measured by the way it treats the life and dignity of human beings, particularly when they are vulnerable, as in the case of child migrants.

Furthermore, we need to work towards protection, integration and long-termsolutions.

We are primarily concerned with adopting every possible measure to guarantee the protection and safety of child migrants, because “these boys and girls often end up on the street abandoned to themselves and prey to unscrupulous exploiters who often transform them into the object of physical, moral and sexual violence” (Benedict XVI, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 2008).

Moreover, the dividing line between migration and trafficking can at times be very subtle. There are many factors which contribute to making migrants vulnerable, especially if they are children: poverty and the lack of means to survive – to which are added unrealistic expectations generated by the media; the low level of literacy; ignorance of the law, of the culture and frequently of the language of host countries. All of this renders children physically and psychologically dependent. But the most powerful force driving the exploitation and abuse of children is demand. If more rigorous and effective action is not taken against those who profit from such abuse, we will not be able to stop the multiple forms of slavery where children are the victims.

It is necessary, therefore, for immigrants to cooperate ever more closely with the communities that welcome them, for the good of their own children. We are deeply grateful to organizations and institutions, both ecclesial and civil, that commit time and resources to protect minors from various forms of abuse. It is important that evermore effective and incisive cooperation be implemented, based not only on the exchange of information, but also on the reinforcement of networks capable of assuring timely and specific intervention; and this, without underestimating the strength that ecclesial communities reveal especially when they are united in prayer and fraternal communion.

Secondly, we need to work for the integration of children and youngsters who are migrants. They depend totally on the adult community. Very often the scarcity of financial resources prevents the adoption of adequate policies aimed at assistance and inclusion. As a result, instead of favouring the social integration of child migrants, or programmes for safe and assisted repatriation, there is simply an attempt to curb the entrance of migrants, which in turn fosters illegal networks; or else immigrants are repatriated to their country of origin without any concern for their “best interests”.

The condition of child migrants is worsened when their status is not regularized or when they are recruited by criminal organizations. In such cases they are usually sent to detention centres. It is not unusual for them to be arrested, and because they have no money to pay the fine or for the return journey, they can be incarcerated for long periods, exposed to various kinds of abuse and violence. In these instances, the right of states to control migratory movement and to protect the common good of the nation must be seen in conjunction with the duty to resolve and regularize the situation of child migrants, fully respecting their dignity and seeking to meet their needs when they are alone, but also the needs of their parents, for the good of the entire family.

Of fundamental importance is the adoption of adequate national procedures and mutually agreed plans of cooperation between countries of origin and of destination, with the intention of eliminating the causes of the forced emigration of minors.

Thirdly, to all I address a heartfelt appeal that long-term solutions be sought and adopted. Since this is a complex phenomenon, the question of child migrants must be tackled at its source. Wars, human rights violations, corruption, poverty, environmental imbalance and disasters, are all causes of this problem. Children are the first to suffer, at times suffering torture and other physical violence, in addition to moral and psychological aggression, which almost always leave indelible scars.

It is absolutely necessary, therefore, to deal with the causes which trigger migrations in the countries of origin. This requires, as a first step, the commitment of the whole international community to eliminate the conflicts and violence that force people to flee. Furthermore, far-sighted perspectives are called for, capable of offering adequate programmes for areas struck by the worst injustice and instability, in order that access to authentic development can be guaranteed for all. This development should promote the good of boys and girls, who are humanity’s hope.

Lastly, I wish to address a word to you, who walk alongside migrant children and young people: they need your precious help. The Church too needs you and supports you in the generous service you offer. Do not tire of courageously living the Gospel, which calls you to recognize and welcome the Lord Jesus among the smallest and most vulnerable.

I entrust all child migrants, their families, their communities, and you who are close to them, to the protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth; may they watch over and accompany each one on their journey. With my prayers, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing.